Basic system Models

• Objectives:
• Devise Models from basic building
blocks of mechanical, electrical, fluid
and thermal systems
• Recognize analogies between
mechanical, electrical, fluid and thermal
systems
 Basic system Models
• Mathematical Models
• Mechanical system building blocks
– Rotational systems
– Building up a mechanical system
Electrical system building blocks
- Building up a model for electrical systems
- Electrical and mechanical analogyies
Fluid system building blocks
Thermal system building blocks
 Mathematical Models
• In order to understand the behavior of
systems, mathematical models are needed.
Such a model is created using equations and
can be used to enable predictions to be
made of the behavior of a system under
specific conditions.
• The basics for any mathematical model is
provided by the fundamental physical laws
that govern the behavior of the system.
• This chapter deals with basic building
blocks and how to combine such blocks to
build a mathematical system model.
 Mechanical system building blocks
The models used to represent mechanical systems have the basic building blocks of:
Springs: represent the stiffness of a system
Dashpots: dashpots are the forces opposing motion, i.e. friction or damping
Masses: the inertia or resistance to acceleration
All these building blocks can be considered to have a force as an input
and a displacement as an output
 Mech. sys blocks: Spring

k is the
stiffness
constant

(Newton’s
third law), this force
will be in the opposite
direction and equal in
size to the force used
to stretch the spring
 Mech. sys blocks: Dashpots

c : speed of the body

It is a type of forces when we
push an object through a fluid
or move an object against
friction forces.
Thus the relation between the
displacement x of the piston,
i.e. the output and the force
as input is a relationship
depending on the rate of
change of the output
 Mech. sys blocks: Masses

• F=ma
m: mass, a: acceleration
Energy in basic mechanical blocks
• The spring when stretched stores energy, the
energy being released when the spring springs
back to its original length.
The energy stored when there is an extension
x is:
E= kx2/2=

Energy stored in the mass when its moving with a

velocity v, its called kinetic energy, and released
when it stops moving:
E=mv2/2

No stored energy in dashpot, it dissipates

energy=cv2
 Basic Blocks or Rotational System
• For rotational system, the equivalent three building blocks are:
a Torsion spring, a rotary damper, and the moment of inertia
With such building blocks, the inputs are torque and the
outputs angle rotated
With a torsional spring
With a rotary damper a disc is rotated in a fluid and
the resistive torque T is:

The moment of inertia has the property that the greater

the moment of inertia I, the greater the torque needed
to produce an angular acceleration
 Energy in rotary system

• For torsional spring:

• Energy stored in mass rotating is :

• The power dissipated by rotary damper

when rotating with angular velocity ω is:
Summary of Mechanical building blocks
Building up a mechanical system
Many systems can be considered to be a mass, a spring
and dashpot combined in the way shown below
Building up a mechanical system
• The net forced applied to dx d 2x
F − kx − c =m 2
the mass m is F-kx-cv dt dt
d 2x dx
V: is the velocity with which or m 2 + c + kx = F
the piston (mass) is dt dt
2nd order differential equation
moving describes the relationship
The net fore is the force between the input of force F to
the system and the output of
applied to the mass to displacement x
cause it to accelerate thus:
net force applied to mass
=ma =
 Example of mechanical systems
The model in b can be
used for the study of the
behavior that could be
expected of the vehicle
when driven over a rough
road and hence as a basis
for the design of the
vehicle suspension model

The model in C can be

used as a part of a larger
model to predict how the
driver might feel when
driving along a road

Model for (a) a machine mounted on the ground, (b) the chassis of a car
Figure 10.3
as a result of a wheel moving along a road, (c) the driver of a car as it is driven
along a road
Analysis of mechanical systems
The analysis of such systems is carried out by drawing a
free-body diagram for each mass in the system, thereafter
the system equations can be derived
• Procedure to obtain the differential
equation relating the inputs to the outputs
for a mechanical system consisting of a
number of components can be written as
follows
 Example: derive the differential
equations for the system in Figure

Consider the free body diagram

For the mass m2 we can write

For the free body diagram of

mass m1 we can write
 Rotary system analysis
The same analysis procedures can also be applied to rotary system,
so just one rotational mass block and just the torque acting on the
body are considered

Spring
Electrical system building blocks
 Electrical System Model
Resistor–capacitor–inductor system
 Electrical and Mechanical Analogy

F I
Velocity Volt
C dashpot 1/R
Spring inductor
Mass capacitor